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Hello! Short post today, because I have a couple emails to write and some schoolwork to catch up on. It is really crazy how quickly my courses are progressing, now that I’m in a number of upper-level kinesiology courses. I’ve learned so much in the three-ish weeks of school that we’ve had so far.

AWESOME pic that one of my friends shared on FB. Credit to the artist; unfortunately I couldn’t find his or her name. I like this piece because it shows which animals the poses are named for. I particularly like the peacock and the locust.

Bubble tea at CoCo is on sale until the end of November, so I will have to make sure my sister and I get some!

Mom made Caprese salad at home in BC, because she bought some new balsamic vinegar. It looks so good! I love that combo of flavours.

Campus on a sunny afternoon

Images from Nutrition in Disguise, one of the research groups that I’m involved with

And more…

Seline and I had a meal at Symposium last Sunday. It was my first time at Symposium Cafe, but I’ve heard too many good things about their cake to miss out. I devoured the whole thick slice of SKY-HIGH CARROT CAKE, and Seline had the triple chocolate cake. After this lovely meal, I went to my friend’s house for a potluck.

Another day, Sal and I went to Red House. Red House is one of my favourite Waterloo spots. They have phenomenal salads, soups, pastas, and entrees. Their desserts are always seasonal, and really unique. This time, I had the butternut squash and coconut soup, followed by fried polenta cubes with a beet and goat cheese salad. For dessert, Seline and I shared two: apple crisp with sharp cheddar ice cream and a unique white chocolate cheesecake with Oreo crust and stewed strawberries and figs.

I had a midterm last week, and a few more coming up. A lot of studying needs to be done!

The Halloween showcase at Brass Butterflies aerial studio is coming up, and I have been procrastinating on practicing. I need to get back into working on improving my endurance.

A quick video from aerials:

And some pics that Seline helped me take for my Instagram. I made an Instagram for my job, because I’m working as a Waterloo Warriors Recreation Ambassador this term. So if you’re reading this, you can follow me too. 😉 _cindywei

Things that scare me but I’m doing them anyways this term:

research

starting a club

presenting in front of lecture halls of first-year students

aerial performance

skating competition

teaching a yoga class

Random meal from recently:

Seline’s steak with potatoes, sautéed green beans, and onions

Veggie bean chili with cheddar and fig goat cheese

Vegetable cheddar enchiladas with roasted delicata squash

Quiche with sautéed green beans

More randomness:

Saw this stunning image of rice paddies on Twitter (or Reddit?), and it made me think of the time that I took a bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara, riding past miles of rice paddies. Absolutely incredible, and even more so in person.

A bitmoji that Seline made for me. It’s now my Twitter pic. I’m really a loser, as you can see.

Seline and I went to Menchies the other day because we had a 2-for-1 discount coupon from the mail. My Menchies bowl included chocolate brownie, cheesecake pieces, peanut butter crisp, a malted chocolate ball, cereal, and more. I’m all about the toppings ^_^

Sometimes, between classes, I find Seline and we spend a few hours relaxing, “studying”, and chatting at an on-campus cafe. The other day, I was SO. TIRED. that I slept with my head right on the table.

Bring milk to a simmer. Cut open tea bags, and allow tea to simmer in the milk for 5 minutes. Strain out the tea leaves.

Mix all ingredients and pour into pan.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Oat Bars

tasted good, but need to add more condensed milk and a splash of oil to the chocolate filling

more butter in the crumble

double the crumble next time!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 cup all-purpose flour (will increase to 2 cups next time)

1/2 cup quick oats (will increase to 1 cup next time)

1/2 tsp baking powder (will increase to 1 tsp next time)

1/2 tsp baking soda (will increase to 1 tsp next time)

1/4 tsp salt (will increase to 1/2 tsp next time)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar (will increase to 1.5 cups next time)

1/4 cup oil (will increase to 1/2 cup next time)

1 tsp vanilla (will increase to 2 tsp next time)

1 egg (will increase to 2 eggs next time)

2 tbsp quick oats (will increase to 1/4 cup next time)

2 tbsp softened butter (will increase to 1/4 cup next time)

DIRECTIONS

Heat chocolate chips and milk in 1-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth; set aside. Heat oven to 350°. Line a square pan with parchment paper.

Mix flour, oats, the baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; set aside. Stir brown sugar, oil, vanilla and egg in medium bowl with fork until smooth; stir into flour mixture until blended. Reserve 1/2 cup dough in small bowl for topping.

Let cool overnight before cutting, or it will be too tender to hold form. Store cooled leftovers in a covered container for up to several days, though best when fresh. Slice and freeze for longer term storage.

Good morning! Check out some of these incredible eats in PEI, before we flash back into the lovely couple of days that my sister and I spent in Toronto. A few nights ago, I savoured this lobster risotto, and my sister had a great gouda mac and cheese with a garlicky baked topping.

For dessert, I had a lovely sticky toffee pudding with whisky caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. This was very tasty, and definitely one of the top three desserts I’ve ever eaten. Amazing. This made my list for all-time best desserts I’ve ever eaten.

This meal was from a restaurant called Cedar’s Eatery, where Seline had chicken souvlaki with Greek salad and rice, while I ate lentils and caramelized onions on rice with fattoush salad. For an appetizer, we shared a plate of calamari with sweet chili sauce.

I’m not sure why I have this here, but it’s a bit of a flashback into my time in Australia. I will miss this so much – it’s the exit from my house, going onto High Street, and my favourite quiche in the world.

Our AirBnB in Toronto, which was located at Bathurst and College. It was an excellent location.

Seline and I loved the Royal Ontario Museum, where we saw a neat Fear and Fascination spiders exhibit, a fashion exhibit, and plenty of contemporary and historical artwork.

Here are some fun photos from the Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not Aquarium and Yonge-Dundas square. Seline’s favourite part of the aquarium was touching the horseshoe crabs and manta rays. I loved the jellies and seahorses.

Seline’s first impression of Toronto wasn’t too bad, but we arrived in the middle of a heat wave. It was a little too humid for her, but we are glad to have done plenty of fun stuff, and eat so much delicious food. This Greek meal was from Mezes, where I ate pastries stuffed with beet and leek, spinach and feta, and Greek cheese. AMAZING meal! I would die for Greek food.

Brunch from Aunties and Uncles before our flight to PEI. Seline had their classic breakfast with bacon, scrambled eggs, potato hash, and toast, while my pear, walnut, and brie grilled cheese (on challah!) was served with a green salad.

Moonbean Cafe has the most delicious London Fog, in my opinion. I tried it cold one day, and hot another. They also make such tasty spinach-feta borekas, which are like a hybrid between a bagel and a puff pastry.

Dinner at Byblos included awesome baguette pides and slices of Mediterranean beef cheek.

We spent four hours at Light Cafe one afternoon. Seline loved her BLT chicken sandwich and lobster bisque, and I thoroughly enjoyed my truffle mushroom risotto with parmesan.

For dessert, we shared charcoal black sesame waffles with black sesame sauce and ice cream (one scoop each of vanilla and sesame).

Finally, this was brunch from Signatures Cafe, which is located inside a hotel. I love eggs benedict, especially on brioche, so this was a divine breakfast. Mine was topped with sauteed kale and spinach, and Seline’s with bacon.

That’s all for today – I have some things to do before the end of the day. Have a lovely rest of the week!

Good afternoon! Hope your weekend has been wonderful so far. My week has been absolutely amazing, much better than I could’ve imagined – and I’ll show you why!

First, one of my favourite authors, Victoria Aveyard, came to Canada for her book tour! She visited Chapters Metrotown in Burnaby. Of course, I’m in Australia until the end of June, but my sister Seline had the opportunity to meet the lovely Victoria, get her books signed, and listen to Victoria’s Q&A. Victoria Aveyard is the author of the Red Queen quartet, and her newest book – series finale! – War Storm was released recently.

In case you haven’t noticed, I am on a MISSION to try as many chai lattes as I can. This morning, I hit up Northey Street Farmers Market, an organic market, which is known for a cozy shack called Chai Cafe. There, I had a very enjoyable mug of chai, one of the spicier ones in Brisbane. The owner told me that she adds fresh vanilla beans, turmeric, and a plethora of other spices, to create a recipe she learned in India. This chai was one of the top two I’ve had so far… and by that I mean it’s the second-best. 🙂

The Northey Street Markets are lovely! Quite a bit busier than the other markets, perhaps due to its size, with lots of friendly dogs and children. It’s a very family-friendly place and I wish I came with the intention of grabbing a sandwich and doing some people-watching.

After my walk at the Northey Street Markets, I went to the Green Edge Vegan Market and Grocery Store. I’m on the lookout for some enchilada sauce (without too many additives or preservatives), and after visiting two or three different specialty grocery stores – I still haven’t found any.

From there, I tried to take the 450 to go home, caught the 150 bus instead, and ended up in South Bank! It was a wonderful accident, because I’ve had Pourboy Espresso on my bucket list for the longest time. It was destiny – I had to eat here!

Mainly, Pourboy Espresso has been on my must-visit list because of their famous Belgian hot chocolate, made with Callebaut dark Belgian chocolate and organic milk. I love how it was served in this little kettle with extra chocolate chips. It was flavourful and sweet, but the chocolate and milk were not mixed together very well. The first 1.5 cups were milky, but near the bottom of the kettle, the chocolate was much more concentrated and un-melted.

For my brunch dish, I ordered the cheesy jalapeño waffles, which were topped with mashed avocado, grilled cherry tomatoes, and two poached eggs. I was worried the waffles would be too spicy, since the waitress said they were quite spicy, but it turned out to be okay. I loved the generous scoop of avocado, since I haven’t had avo for a while, and the eggs were poached very nicely. The entire dish was fresh and flavourful, and it was sprinkled with some coarse salt that boosted the taste of everything. Overall, a solid brunch dish that I would recommend!

The table to my right savoured a slice of lemon sour cream pound cake with lemon curd, and it looked delicious. On top of that, my server talked about how much she loved this dessert. For those of you who have read my blog for a while now – you know that I’ve never been a fan of citrus desserts. In fact, I hate lemon. I think orange ruins chocolate. Grapefruit desserts should be called breakfast. I’m all about the nutty desserts. The chocolatey desserts. The richer, the more decadent, the creamier – the better. So, ordering this fresh and fruity LEMON dessert was out of character!

But it was good. Really good. Paired with that lemon curd, this slightly-warm, crumbly, buttery cake with blasts of flavour from the toasted walnuts, this was a fantastic way to end my meal.

“We noticed the lady to our right, munching on this cake and gushing about it,” the man beside me had mentioned, “so we had to order it, too. It’s just a ricochet of lemon pound cake.”

For my main dish, I knew I wanted the mushroom quesadillas. These quesadillas were filled with gorgonzola and stracciatella (Italian buffalo milk) cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and spinach. It was set on a bed of pumpkin puree, and topped with two fried eggs and pebre salsa. According to Wikipedia, pebre salsa is a Chilean condiment made of coriander, chopped onion, olive oil, garlic and ground or pureed spicy aji peppers. The dish was a blast of flavours and textures, incredibly filling, and I was in love with the cheesy centres and doughy tortilla.

For dessert, I wanted to try their daily special – a middle eastern fruit bread pudding topped with sliced fruit, and two scoops of orange marmalade ice cream. This was much bigger than I’d expected, and the giant slabs (yes, there were three slices) of bread were layered with figs, dates, raisins, and bananas.

Every bite was fruity and paired well with the zing of the ice cream. I liked how some parts of the fruit bread were crispy and caramelized, while the middles were creamy and pudding-like.

You can probably imagine, that after a mug of milk tea, a veggie-filled quesadilla with two eggs, and then a massive loaf of bread pudding with two scoops of ice cream – that I was very full. 🙂

Photos of South Bank, Brisbane! Gotta do the touristy stuff here, too.

L: a dessert restaurant in South Bank that I want to try!

R: photo from the bathroom of Banneton Bakery that took me right back to my summer in Paris, France. I remember all of these stops, and miss Paris so much. Thinking about my time there always makes me happy – and simultaneously leaves me in disbelief. I can’t believe that the 16 year-old me took my younger sister to live in Paris for a month.

Another amazing brunch happened at Pearl Cafe. I’ve wanted to visit Pearl Cafe for ages, and it’s been at the top of my food bucket list for months. For some reason, I thought it would be far away, but it was only a 30-minute bus ride from home.

Here, I didn’t think twice before ordering the crepe, which was filled with fried egg and spinach. It was such an easy choice because the server told me that the crepe was her favourite item on the menu, and she eats it every single day after her shift. Can’t argue with that! The topping is saffron and radish, with fresh prawns and a zingy marinade. Honestly, a spectacular dish, and it was exceptionally tasty with freshly-cracked black pepper and a squeeze of lemon. I can see why Pearl Cafe is so popular!

For dessert… you guys. You guys.

“Tea cake”, to me, sounds boring. I just think of some plain old yeast bread, maybe studded with a couple raisins. Pearl Cafe’s tea cake, however, is on another level. This massive slice was buttery, had incredible crumb, and was loaded with caramelized rhubarb. Yes, caramelized rhubarb! Even better, there was a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. I devoured every crumb, as usual, and would eat this a million times. I’m already planning my next trip back to Pearl Cafe.

Back to the chai! I stole this paragraph from a popular Brisbane food and travel website called The Urban List:

There’s a lot of chat being thrown around by a bunch of heathens trying to tell me that flavoured sugar powder is a worthy substitute. Where’s the LOVE? Where’s the AUTHENTICITY? Nothing compares to the spicy aroma of a freshly brewed pot of proper chai; you feel that shit in your soul, and Brisbane’s got it on lock.

Couldn’t’ve (had to google how to spell that!) said it better.

Anyways, the award for the #1 chai I’ve had in Brisbane so far goes to… the Baker’s Arms! Their chai is a homemade blend, steeped in organic milk and honey. It was rich, had excellent tea flavour, and had subtle sweetness from the honey. I enjoyed this tea with a side of sunshine, before grabbing a tasty meal next door. My only complaint about this chai is that there wasn’t enough. I can’t wait to go back for this!

No, you aren’t having deja-vu; I posted about this incredible peanut butter hot chocolate on my last blog post. It was so good that I had to go back for another mug. Look at those chocolate shavings! That foamy milk! Those granules of sea salt!

Another place I’m dying to visit, and a quote that hit me yesterday. I haven’t been performing very well on a couple recent exams and essays, and surprisingly, don’t feel too discouraged. It’s a weird feeling because I feel like I should be angry or upset about the grades, but I’m not. Interestingly, I’m not in denial about it either… I’ve just accepted it and feel okay with it. I know I didn’t study as much as I normally do, and my grades reflected that, but I’m trying my best. I don’t know – it’s so strange!

Plus, most of my time has been going to – you guessed it – aerials. 😉 I revamped the page, by the way, so y’all should go check it out.

Couple other things – my friends and I are having lunch at Wordsmiths, a cafe on campus, tomorrow. I’ve starred all the items that I think would be delicious, but I haven’t decided which one I’m going to order. I’m leaning towards the soup of the day, depending what it is, but the baked ricotta (it has pumpkin in it!) and vegetable lasagna also sound delicious. Wish I could find photos for all of them, though.

And… I’m back to studying!

By that, I mean I am going to start now, though I should’ve started days ago.

I practiced lots of aerials at Cirqueability in Toronto, then Brass Butterflies in Waterloo, and finally, Vancouver Circus School in New Westminster, BC. What a lovely way to spend my spare time. I miss it!

I had the opportunity to meet some fascinating, hardworking, intelligent, wise people like Vivian Tsang and Shanna Yeung.

My sister and I watched KURIOS, a Cirque du Soleil show that I once saw in Montreal back when I lived in St-Eustache, Quebec, one summer. I added some more details about the show below, at the end of this post.

Seline and I discovered that we had a strange interest in baby names. I know… what?! We share a lot of the same opinions on which names are wonderful, and which names we strongly dislike. My mom sent me this list below, which involves the top baby names of 2017.

Some of the aforementioned popcorn!

Had the opportunity to go to a public skate with Seline yesterday. It was my first time skating in a very long time (haven’t been on the ice for figure skating since Grade 11ish of high school!), so it was a lovely experience. We had a lot of fun.

I am very excited about taking this course in Australia next month. 🙂

Like I mentioned, Seline and I were exhilarated by Cirque du Soleil’s KURIOS. The duo straps act was my favourite part. 🎪

According to over 63,000 votes on Google Surveys, these are voters’ favourite parts of Christmas:

3% carolling

14% Christmas decorations

9% Christmas dinner

6% Christmas movies

9% Christmas music

24% presents

7% Santa Claus

28% time with family and friends ❤

What do you think?

This holiday, I’ve been home for a week so far and have had so much deliciousness. First up, a tasty plate of Hainanese chicken rice, a fried egg, sauteed asparagus, and seared tofu with green onions. Mom is an amazing chef.

Another day, I loved chocolate oatmeal with crunchy peanut butter, along with the richest honey Greek yogurt and blackberries.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet up with the super intelligent, articulate, hardworking, and food-loving SHANNA YEUNG! I had such a fangirl moment when my mom and I saw her parking her car and coming over. Shanna suggested Kinemi Kitchen, a quiet Italian restaurant in a Vancouver strip mall. While unassuming from the outside, Kinemi Kitchen smelled amazing and served up the best cheesy baked lobster I’ve ever had, atop a bed of linguine and veggies in garlicky rosé sauce and parmesan,

We also had dessert: taro Nutella bubble tea sans bubbles and red bean cheesecake bubble tea – also sans bubbles. Before I knew it, I was on my way home!

Mom and I did some baking shortly after:

Chocolate Cheesecake

Serves one 9” pan (16 servings)

INGREDIENTS

18 to 24 Oreo cookies or graham crackers, crushed finely (1.5 cups)

1/4 cup icing sugar, optional (I didn’t use this)

2 to 6 tbsp melted butter (depends on how much cookie you use)

3 8-oz packages softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

8 oz semisweet chocolate chips, meltedin a double boiler and cooled

sprinkle of cinnamon, optional

1/2 espresso powder, optional

3 large eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine cookie crumbs, icing sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of a 9” springform pan.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until you smell a strong chocolate aroma.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt.

Add chocolate. Mix well.

Add eggs one at a time. Mix on low speed until just blended.

Add optional cinnamon and espresso powder, if desired.

Pour over crust.

Bake 55 mins, or until centre is set. Turn off the oven. Crack the door open several inches. Allow the cake to cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove.

The day before, I had the opportunity to speak at my high school about travelling, co-op, volunteer work, and life in university. It was a wonderful experience, and neat to see all the hopeful, excited grade twelve students.

On a completely different note, I emailed a bunch of companies during the fall (to ask for free samples) and recently made a compilation of all the companies that responded to me with coupons. These were all mailed to my house.

Basically, what I’m saying is: if you have free time, or no life like I do, email these companies and get some free coupons. Mom and I ended up getting juice, maple syrup, bread, three boxes of tea, nut butter, two large containers of hummus, and frozen chicken and cheese taquitos – for just over $1.00.

My last few days in Scarborough were snowy. Very snowy and up to -30 degrees at night.

On my last day of work, the team went to a restaurant called The Local, which is run by hospitality and cooking/pastry students at Centennial College. Here, the students learn to make sauce, stocks, bread, and more, while serving the public. It’s a special place with a connected cafe, open to everyone, and nothing is made from a box. In fact, all the ingredients is fresh, seasonal, local, and homemade. For example, the signature burger uses a homemade burger and bun – and homemade ketchup and a homemade pickle!

Packing went much smoother than I’d expected, since I had fewer things. Before I knew it, both suitcases were packed and I was on my way home.

That night, I had plenty of extra oats and yogurt to use up, and I did.

“Chock full of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and probiotics (the healthy bacteria that aid digestion), there’s no doubt yogurt provides delicious benefits for your insides. But it can also do beauty wonders for your outsides as well, namely for your skin. Yogurt contains lactic acid that dissolves dead skin cells. This gentle exfoliation not only helps to create a natural glow and prevent breakouts, but works to diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles. When topically applied to the skin, a velvety yogurt face mask will help moisturize, fight acne, prevent premature aging, relieve sunburn, and reduce discoloration. It’s an all-around beauty multi-tasker.”